The film, "Scent of Green Papaya", depicts the Vietnamese culture in many different ways. The film has almost no spoken words, and when someone does talk, it is usually a female. Mui is shown as a person who is in touch with nature, which is symbolic to all citizens of Vietnam. The appearance of many plants and animals are just little details in the film that allow the viewer to observe the Vietnamese appreciation for outdoors and nature. The film also very clearly depicts the specific roles of men and women. The women are much more concerned with the household and cooking (green papayas), which shows that they take much pride and honor in these things. They are shown as hard workers with respect to their households. In opposition, men are depicted in a more negative light. The young boys of the film are constantly causing disruptions and the father leaves his family and takes all of the money. Khuyen, who is engaged to be married, has an affair with Mui.
Through this film, we learn that men are more important than women with reguard to the government and country as a whole, but in respect to the household, women are much more apt to be hard workers. This film is going on during the war, and you can see how the war is affecting each character. The war was a constant in the character's every day life, and it was slowly ruining everything they had.
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The film “The Scent of Green Papaya” depicts the life of a young Vietnamese girl named Mui. Although the film is does not have a great amount of dialogue, it symbolizes the Vietnamese culture through different mediums.
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Mui is depicted as a person who is in touch with nature, which is universally symbolic to all citizens of Vietnam. The appearance of many plants and animals are details in the film that allow the viewer to observe the beauty of Vietnam and the appreciation for nature that the Vietnamese had. However, there is a scene in which the little boys pour wax over ants. This is symbolic of the Vietnamese people; they are small, dark and helpless to the Americans, which the little boys represent.
The war is present through this film and constant in every character’s life, slowly ruining everything they had. The Vietnamese were treated as prisoners in their country, which is symbolized by the curfew sirens at night put in place by the Americans.
At the end of the film, Mui mentions a cherry tree, and how it goes through different phases of life, even death, but in the end still remains a cherry tree. This symbolizes the country of Vietnam and how even though the war created destruction and hopelessness, in the end, Vietnam is still Vietnam, and still a beautiful country.